Manchester City assistant manager visits Barlavento School

By SHEENA RAWCLIFFE

Coming to the end of a school term is always an exciting time. Time to spend with your friends and family, maybe a holiday and maybe a move to a new school.

For some of the children at the Barlavento School near Espiche, there was an especially exciting time last week, when they welcomed Brian Kidd, Assistant Manager at Manchester City Football Club to their classroom and to their playing pitch.

Photo: Mark Rawcliffe / ALGARVE RESIDENT

Brian spoke to the group of 9 to 11 year-olds with great enthusiasm about his time as a player and answered the questions put to him.

The imagination of the young pupils was put to the test to find the most unusual question: “Who was your favourite ever footballer” one asked (Dennis Law was the answer) and another questioner asked if Brian had ever been playing football when there was a power-cut – obviously this youngster has lived in the Algarve for quite some time.

Prior to Brian’s arrival, the pupils had spent time artistically making special pages for Brian’s autograph.

A visit from such a high profile footballer would not have been the same without some coaching from the man himself. Then two teams faced one another under the guidance of Andy Robinson, long-time resident of the Algarve and sports coach at Barlavento School.

Looking for a scoop for the Algarve Resident we asked if Brian could see any outstanding talent, but this was one answer that he was keeping close to his chest – at least until he gets back to Manchester City.

BARLAVENTO OPEN WEEK

Barlavento School is holding an open week from Monday June 25 until Friday June 29

Each day the school will be open from 09.15am until 4pm.

If you would like to visit Barlavento School, to view the facilities and meet some of the staff, please make an appointment by phoning 282 789 206.